Vice-President JD Vance has conceded that the Trump administration botched the handling of the release of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In a lengthy interview with podcast host Joe Rogan, Vance said: 'We absolutely screwed up the comms of the Epstein files.'
The Department of Justice's repeated delays in releasing the documents drew bipartisan criticism last year, becoming a significant political liability for President Donald Trump during his second term. Vance told Rogan the administration should have released all documents from the start.
Vance defended former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had claimed that Epstein's alleged 'client list' was on her desk. 'I don't think there was anything malicious going on,' Vance said. 'I think Pam was trying to respond to the political moment. I think she overstated what we had and what we didn't have.'
Bondi's comments led to widespread mockery after she distributed binders titled 'The Epstein files: Phase 1' and 'Declassified', which mainly contained publicly available documents. Vance acknowledged this fuelled mistrust: 'We absolutely screwed up… But do I think the reason we screwed up the comms is because we were trying to hide something? No.'
After months of controversy, lawmakers compelled the release of a large trove of documents. In December, the justice department began releasing heavily redacted files, including photos, call logs, grand jury testimony and interview transcripts. However, the redactions and failure to meet a deadline drew further criticism from lawmakers and the public.
